The Sword Singer
by PalasAthene
Summary: Even though she loved her life in Clearwater with her friends and family beside her, Rhen always longed for something more. One day, a stranger in white shows up, prompting a chain of events that leads Rhen to confront her destiny. Slow burn RhenxLars.
1. Peace

A/N: Hey everyone. I know this game is super old and that I have several other projects underway, but I just can't help it. I have been in love with Aveyond since I was 12 years old, and I played all of Aveyond 3 again recently, prompting another wave of love for this series. I have always been slightly pissed off about the ending of the first Aveyond and the confinement that comes with it, so I'll be taking Rhen's story down a path a lot of us have wanted.

Enjoy!

...

Rhen lived a serene life.

What wasn't there to be happy about in Clearwater? She had her ma and pa, whom she loved with all her heart. Their work in the fields was laborious, but worth the trouble as their harvest was plentiful. So plentiful, in fact, that after the chores for the day were done, there was plenty of time left during the day to do whatever they wanted.

By all means, she should have been content in her joyous life. But she found herself _bored_. There was something restless in her that longed for something more than a peaceful life in her sweet village.

But, Rhen pushed these feelings aside whenever they arose. Her life was here with her parents and friends. And it was a wonderful life, shattered only by the appearance of the mysterious woman in white.

Her pa had whisked the woman away after Rhen had found her, leaving the girl of 16 to stare at them dumfounded as they left. She walked after them, mind whirring with theories as to who this person was. _A long lost princess escaping her captives. No, a witch who is luring us into a trap with a beautiful appearance. A dragon? No matter who or what she is, how could Pa know her?_

She passed by her friend Peter near the entrance to the village. He was bouncing excitedly with bundles of pink flowers in his arms. "Rhen, who's that woman with your father? Everyone's talking about her!"

"I don't know. You'll be the first to know when I find out." Rhen rubbed the back of her head, smiling sheepishly at her friend. Everyone she passed in the village seemed to be in the same state of curiosity as Peter. Stuff like this never happened in Clearwater.

She entered her house to see her mother sweeping the kitchen, her ruby hair bound up tightly. "Darling," she smiled sweetly upon seeing Rhen.

To Rhen's frustration, her father was all but mute about the stranger, who was passed out on a bed. Rhen retrieved Dyonna, the herbalist who lived on top of the hill, and was rushed out of the room with no explanation. Her mother gave her a chore to distract herself, making her tired enough to collapse on return to her room.

Whatever, the next day was the spring equinox, and with that came the Maypole Festival that everyone had been hurriedly preparing for the past week. Rhen put on the pretty blue and white dress that her mother had left out for her and twirled around in it, watching the skirt flare around her. Her mother only let her wear her rouge on special occasions, and this was one of them. Rhen walked out of the house with rosy cheeks.

The woman in white was waiting for her. "Ma'am, are you feeling better?" Rhen asked politely.

Her eyes gleamed as she nodded. "Please, wait." She said as Rhen moved to excuse herself. "I understand that you all are busy today, but for now, take this as a sign of my gratitude, o chosen one."

 _Clearly a nutter_. "Oh, there's no need. Alright, if you insist…" Rhen said warily as the woman adamantly held it out. Rhen slipped on the silver ring the woman gave her. The blue gem glowed gently as she moved her hand to catch the light. It was certainly pretty and unlike anything she'd seen before. More importantly, it matched her dress. "You're not going to join?" Rhen indicated to the people beginning to gather in the square. "Everyone wants to meet you."

"No, I believe I need more rest." The woman bowed to her and entered Rhen's home, shutting the door behind her softly.

"Weird." Rhen shrugged. The woman and her ring left her thoughts as she caught wind of the rest of her age group coming out of their houses. The festivities commenced at the mayor's announcement and Rhen lost herself in laughing and dancing.

"Look!" Ella nudged Rhen with a sharp whisper. "Ask him to dance."

Rhen flushed furiously at the sight of the dark haired boy. "No way," she hissed.

The others laughed at her flustered state, but dropped the topic. At one point of the day, Danny caught her eyes and smiled. Rhen was proud to say that she didn't gape, and managed to smile back at him. It was progress.

Some of teenagers grew bored as dusk fell, and began to scatter, leaving the adults and children still in the square. Rhen noticed Peter waving at her from the cave entrance, and she made her way to him, making sure her parents weren't watching. "Hey, Jenna and I are gonna go chase Billy Harker's sheep. You in?"

Rhen eyed her parents quickly, and grinned to see they hadn't noticed her leave. "I'll meet you there." Peter laughed and ran off. Rhen pulled up her skirt and tied it to make it easier to run. They'd need to if the old man caught wind of their mischief. She also discarded her heeled shoes, relishing in the feel of the warm grass under her feet. More comfortable, she followed Peter.

Only to run headfirst into a portly, well-dressed man. Rhen had never seen him before and his clothing looked foreign. "Excuse me, dear, is there a village around here?"

"Yes, down that path." She pointed to the cave leading out to Clearwater that she had just come out of. She didn't see the greed in his eyes as he caught glimpse of the ring on her finger.

"What a lovely ring. May I see it again, sweet girl?"

Rhen hesitated. "I guess so." She made the fatal error of showing him the ring at his honeyed request. The man laughed cruelly and snapped a metal bracelet around her delicate wrist. "Let me go!" Rhen screeched, struggling in his grasp.

"No use pretending, Priestess. I know the look of your signet"

"PETER! Someone help, PLEASE!" Rhen screamed feebly for help, paling as her echoing voice was the only response to her plea.

"No one is going to help you." And with that, Rhen felt a sharp blow to her head, knocking her out cold. The last thing she registered was the man pulling the ring off her finger with rough hands.


	2. Slavery

A/N: So, slavery is no laughing matter. Rhen's time as a slave should not be trivialized or forgotten about easily.

...

The next few months of Rhen's life were utter agony. When she first came to after being captured by that… _slaver_ … she was on a large cargo ship. She'd tried to jump overboard to swim back to the Western Isle fading in her view, only to be tied to the hull with a few more bruises. Still, she held on to stubborn resistance.

The reality of her situation dawned on her at the auctions. Her pretty dress was taken from her by a middle aged woman with an angry set to her mouth when Rhen wouldn't part with it willingly. The earrings she wore were next. She was only left with the silver bracelet and rags the woman had thrown at her. Then, the auction. She watched in muted horror as slave after slave was presented on a stage to have a wealthy crowd lazily bid for them. They fanned themselves from the heat and drank cool beverages while peoples' lives were being sold.

When it was Rhen's turn, she was shoved forth by the same lady who'd taken her clothes. They hadn't chained her up, so she tried to make a run for it. Bad idea, she hadn't made it off the stage before she was knocked out with a punch.

Coming to in an unfamiliar cot, Rhen overheard a conversation between two women. "Yes, I got the thing at quite a bargain."

"I heard the whelp tried to run."

"Oh, no need to worry. If she tries anything remotely rebellious, I'll beat it out of her."

Her new mistress kept her word. Rhen, being stubborn to a fault, insisted on fighting every step of the way for the first two weeks. But a handful of beatings taught her soon that Mistress Rona would not relent until Rhen served or died.

Rona's son, Lars was about Rhen's age. She had tried to approach him for help at first, since she saw how polite he was to his mother's guests. Maybe he would take pity on her? It was a terrible mistake. Lars had laughed cruelly before telling his mother of Rhen's scheme, thus treating Rhen to bitter punishment. She only ever talked to the boy when she had to now, and never without a vicious glare in his direction. Lars kept his distance too, eyeing her like she was a rabid dog he'd catch some disease from.

Rhen fell into a muted pattern where she would do her best to act the part of the submissive slave, all while maintaining the hope that her family was looking for her or that she'd manage to escape and run back to them. She didn't worry about how low the chances of that happening were. If she didn't keep hope, what else did she have?

One day, after she had done her rounds of sweeping the house and killing any new spiders in the ever dusty attic of Rona's manse, she was given another task. "Call my son to dinner, slave girl. Be quick about it."

"Yes, Mistress Rona."

She listened to the woman with graying green hair brag about Lars' acceptance to that stuffy academy and refrained from rolling her eyes. It was all the woman could talk about these days to anyone that could (or in Rhen's case, was forced to) listen.

On one hand, Rhen was glad to get out of the mansion. On the other, she was dreading talking to Lars. Her dread grew as she saw him lounging about with his gang of other spoiled rich kids. Together, they were known to terrorise any poor slave who got in their way. Lars' eyes shot down to her lazily as she approached. The girl beside him stopped whatever she was excitedly talking about and sneered at Rhen.

Rhen ignored them all and delivered her mistress's message. Lars scoffed. "I don't take orders from a filthy slave girl."

Ylitta laughed, but it sounded more like a shriek to Rhen's ears. She clung on to Lars' arm and looked down at Rhen. "After all this time, the girl is still too dumb to understand her place. Look how she talks to you!"

The other boy, Hector grabbed Rhen's wrist. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he held tight. "What's this thing on her wrist?"

"Her bracelet, clearly." Lars rolled his eyes and shook Ylitta off of him to her disappointment.

Hector laughed mockingly, letting go of Rhen, much to her relief. "My mother would _never_ let one of our slave girls wear something so nice."

"Shut up, Hector!" Lars snapped. "The only reason she still wears the stupid thing is because we cannot get it off of her."

Ylitta perked up. "C'mon, let's pry it off of her!"

"No, wait, I have a better idea. Slave girl, come here."

While the three of them had been bickering, Rhen had slowly been backing away from the group. She cursed as Lars noticed her. "Your mother has more chores for me to do, Lars. I need to go." She tried to argue.

"They can wait." Lars' smirk was dangerous. "I want to show my friends a little magic trick I've learned."

Rhen gaped at him. "Yeah right. Even I know that you're forbidden from using magic till you go to the academy."

Lars only laughed at that, prompting his stupid followers to follow in suit. "Who's going to tell? You? I'll have you flogged for a day straight."

Rhen yelped as her arm was grabbed by Hector and she was brought to directly face Lars, who took her shackled wrist in his. She squirmed around and kicked Hector, who groaned and tightened his hold. "Let me go you ugly lugs!"

She clenched her eyes shut as Lars channelled a shock of magic towards her. This was not the way she wanted to go. The magic however only made her jump, and she saw, to her great surprise that the metal bracelet had snapped off her wrist. The three of them lost interest in her and began to inspect the bracelet. Ylitta and Hector both praised Lars for his ability. "You…" Rhen started, staring mutely at the ground, vision beginning to see glimpses of red. "You could've killed me!"

"But I didn't." Lars said calmly, _smugly_. "Who would care? You're nothing but a lazy slave girl."

Rhen surprised even herself when she screamed in frustration. "You little—I am a person! My name is RHEN!"

Lars, Ylitta, and Hector stared at her in shock before they all burst into laughter. Rhen was shaking at this point, wanting nothing more than to launch herself into a fight with the three of them. Ylitta turned to the boys and grinned. "The slave girl reminds me of a foolish puppy I used to own whose name was Peta. She seems to want a name, Lars. Maybe you should give her one?"

Lars didn't even look at Rhen. It was a good thing he didn't, or he would have seen Rhen mimicking the motions to strangle him. "Hmm, Peta. If it is good enough for a dog, it is good enough for her." By the time he turned to her, Rhen had calmed down slightly, and her face was less red. "Slave girl, I hereby name you Peta!"

It took all of her self-restraint to walk away from them with a quick, "Whatever." They could keep the stupid bracelet. She had no affection for it. She wiped away the angry tears that rose to her eyes and kept her head down as she walked.

Rona had the expected reaction when Rhen didn't return with her son. With a sharp smack to the head, Rhen was ordered to bed. Her stomach growled, but she didn't dare ask about her nightly provisions. That night she slept cold, hungry, and sore. Not so different than usual. This time, she had Lars to blame for her treatment.

At the very least, it was her last night in that household. But Rhen did not know that until much later the next day.


	3. The Academy

Everything had changed so fast, not for the first time in Rhen's life. Over the course of one morning, she had been discovered to have abilities and was freed from slavery. Before anyone could change their minds about her, she had left the city of Ghalarah for good with nothing but the clothes the tailor had given her out of pity. The journey was not as tough as she first imagined, besides the encounter of an odd rat or chicken. And it was well worth it.

Upon arriving in Veldarah, Rhen was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. Ghalarah was a bustling town, sure, but nowhere near as grand as the capital of the Eastern Kingdom. Passing through the market with a gaping mouth, Rhen had finally made it to the towering building that was supposed to be Shadwood Academy.

No one believed she was actually a student until she presented the token the sword singer in red had given her. It was disheartening how quickly the way she was treated changed upon the shedding of her identity as a slave. It was only because of her supposed talent that gave her any worth in the eyes of these people. Otherwise, she was nothing to them.

Of course, there was one person that would always treat her like a slave. The day before classes started, Lars arrived with the other noble students, who all took their time getting to the academy. Immediately, he set to work making Rhen's life as miserable as possible. But Rhen could ignore the glares and the laughing at her expense.

Two weeks into her classes, she befriended another boy in who was in most of her elementary sword singing classes. In her time in the east, Rhen had forgotten what it was like to have a friend so she was hesitantly eager for an opportunity.

"Ignore them," Raymond said one day, waving off Lars and his new posse as they walked to their dormitory, luckily far from the sorcerers. "They'll get tired of it eventually."

"Hmph, I don't even care." Rhen lied, trying not to notice the jeers. "Let's go over that new technique Lorad was talking about."

His eyes widened. "What? But we're not expected to start with that until next month."

"Oh, c'mon. Can't hurt to be ahead." She insisted.

Eventually, Raymond was able to talk his way out of practicing. From what Rhen knew of him, he, like most of the other students came from relative wealth. He wasn't used to grueling work. Instead, Raymond preferred to spend time lounging around, even going so far as to hounding her into relaxing. Sometimes, she relented, as long as he agreed to spar with her occasionally.

One afternoon, two months after the school year began, Raymond stopped her after their morning classes. "Hey, Rhen. Wanna meet up later today?" Something about how bashful he looked made Rhen hesitate to agree. But agree she did. After she'd thrown her training equipment in her room, she headed for the large tree in the courtyard where they normally studied together. Although, lately, those study sessions became more and more spaced out.

She spotted his head of red locks immediately, and then the basket and blanket that the boy was sitting atop of. Puzzled, she called out, "What's all this?"

He jumped up, blushing furiously. "I thought we could do something different today. Will you sit, Rhen?"

Rhen laughed, setting herself down upon the blanket. "How can I not when you went through all the effort?"

Raymond grinned in return and they began to chatter away as they usually did, about their classes, the weather, the other students. Rhen noticed throughout their picnic, that the red haired boy was unsettled. In their time as friends, she had come to the realisation that he played with his curls when he was worried or nervous. _Is he going away? Did he do something illegal that's gonna force him to run away_? Eventually, Rhen was saved from her speculations.

"Listen, Rhen…" Raymond began after a moment of comfortable silence. "I don't think we're going to be in the same classes for long."

"Huh," Rhen blinked in confusion. "Why wouldn't we be?"

He flushed. "I'm not a prodigy like you. It's obvious that you're rising fast through the ranks. I can't keep up."

That was not true, and frankly caused Rhen to feel a rush of irritation. How could he not notice how hard she worked in every spare moment she had? "I'm not a prodigy, I just study a whole bunch. I'll help you, if you're worried."

He shook his head. "That's not what I'm trying to say. I don't care about that, it's just… Rhen, I _like_ you!"

Her hand, reaching for a grape, froze in its path. "You what?"

As if suddenly remembering, Raymond scrambled to pull something from his bag. It was a small bundle of ruffled butter yellow flowers. They were shoved hurriedly into her arms. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Rhen could only gape at the expectant expression on his face. Where the heck did this come from? Rhen scrambled to think of any occasion when Raymond had let this sort of interest in her slip, but her mind came to no conclusions. "I-um-Raymond, this is a bit sudden."

"Is it? We've known each other for some time now." He pressed.

He clearly wanted an answer, but Rhen feared hers was not one he wanted to hear. "Raymond, you're my best friend here. I really like you…"

"Then what's the problem?" he asked, still oblivious to Rhen's growing dilemma.

There was the problem that Rhen didn't like him in the way he liked her. "I just don't think now's the right time for a relationship. We're both still students, and we need to concentrate on our sword singing." Maybe in the future, now that she was aware of his feelings, she could grow to like him… But it was too shocking in that moment to consider.

The half-smile fell off of his lips. "Oh."

"This doesn't change anything between us, does it?"

Raymond hesitated, before his features settled into a sneer that put a sinking feeling in Rhen's chest. "What, you expect me to follow you around after you step on me?" As Rhen stared at him, he let out a sharp laugh, standing up abruptly. "Figures. I just wanted to see if it was true that the slave girl thought herself to be better than everyone around her." At that, Rhen rose to face him, her fists clenched tightly. He turned round to look down at her. "You don't think I'd actually go for filth like you? All my belongings would disappear by the next day."

"I thought you didn't believe those lies!" she snapped after patiently listening to his tirade.

Raymond began to gather up the picnic blanket and half full basket. He stuffed the sad yellow flowers into his bag. He gave Rhen a mocking look. "The only thing you have going for you is that you're pretty in the right light. That's not enough to change what you are, _slave_."

With a start, Rhen realised that he was angry. He was making a great show of seeming like this was what he planned, that he was winning somehow. But the set to his mouth and his furious tone were dead giveaways to his wounded pride.

"Who knows what _favours_ you're doing for Lorad to make him cater to you…"

Rhen slapped him, hard enough to make him fall to the ground with a yelp. "Thank you for confessing, Raymond. You've really opened my eyes." Her words were pleasant, but her eyes were chips of lavender ice. "Now get the hell out of my sight."

With a look full of fear and resentment, Raymond got up from the ground and scurried off with as much dignity as he could muster. She watched the shock of red hair disappear before she picked up a stick from the ground and struck the tree behind her with a scream. Through her tear blurred eyes, she saw it smoking where she had just struck. Dazed, she dropped the remains of the stick.

Her only friendship here on the Eastern Isle had turned out to be a lie. The only person she could think to blame popped into her head. With new vigor, Rhen marched back to the dormitories and entered the building she normally ignored.

Ignoring the looks sent her way by students in brown uniforms, she went straight to the small lounge present in the dormitories of both sorcerers and sword singers. The boy she was looking for was alone for once, reading a book in one hand and practicing magic in the other. "It's all your fault!"

Rhen had the pleasure of seeing the surprise on his face. She clenched her fists and approached Lars, causing him to stand up to his full height. "And what exactly is my fault?"

She was about to explain what had just transpired before she thought better of him. He didn't deserve an explanation. She only got angrier as she saw the beginnings of a smirk appear on his stupid face. "Don't you look at me like that!" Rhen didn't care how she looked anymore. She laughed, feeling half deranged. "What else can you say about me Lars? I'm violent!?" she poked him in the chest to emphasise that. "I'm a thief!? Do your worst!"

He looked down her oh so condescendingly and merely raised a brow before making a show of opening his book again. "Bark all you want Peta, you'll be gone soon enough."

"Wanna bet?!" That caught his attention. "I _will_ graduate from this academy before you. Then you'll have to acknowledge that I'm better than you."

"And when I naturally beat you, you'll acknowledge your place." Lars looked positively excited at the notion. _Maybe I can knock a few inches off of him. He doesn't deserve to be so tall. At least his hair can't get any more stupid._

The challenge was on. Rhen left him there, feeling overconfident. But she had learnt her lesson. She knew that she had an advantage over the other spoiled brats in the academy. She would prove them all wrong.

Now she didn't have false friendship to hold her back.


	4. Rhen's Trial

A/N: Wow. Who would have fucking thought. I actually updated a story. School is hectic, but I have been writing on the bus lately during my horrifyingly long commute. Also, I'm a third done the next chapter too so that might come out in another week.

I'm a bit curious. Should I make an AO3 account? I know the young'uns are into that nowadays, but I grew up on and am terrified of change.

Anyways, enjoy!

...

Rhen was captured by a sour determination ever since that smug prick emerged from the testing grounds. He acted like it was due to ability that he passed his trials before her, not the fact that sorcerers testing happened a day before the sword singers. She was still top of her class and was first in line for her round of testing.

To her great pleasure, Raymond hadn't even qualified for the trials. Not many students that came to the academy at the same time as Rhen did. It was her luck that Lars wasn't like the rest of the spoiled brats and actually cared about his studies. But she was no less. Over the past year, she had thrown herself into her studies. She took some pride in the idea that Lars might have been as worked up over their competition as she was.

When the time came for her to face Lorad, Rhen didn't hesitate to stride into the courtyard. Members of the faculty sat around them, along with students who were curious about the first bout of sword singer trials. Rhen cast a dirty look at Lars, who was seated with his instructor. He matched her sneer, before turning to mutter something to the woman beside him. _He's probably here to see if I fail. Fat chance of that._ She supposed it was only fair that he were here. After all, she had attended his trial for the same reason only to be disappointed.

Rhen listened to the rules presented to her, bowed as was customary, and prepared to face Lorad. The older man was dressed in a shocking red as usual to match his hair. For such a stern instructor, he was very concerned with his appearance. He held a simple training sword, the same as hers. It was no comfort though. The very concept of sword singing was that power could be channelled through anything. The result depended on the caster, and Lorad was the master for a very good reason. "Good luck, Rhen." He said before striking.

And they proceeded to fight. There was no way she was expected to defeat him. All she had to do was show off her skills and not fall in battle. If Lorad and the other instructors were impressed, then she passed on to become an apprentice. Rhen used all of her advanced spells and techniques, revelling in the surprised faces around her. She was top of the class for a reason. Only Lorad's face remained neutral as he fought with her. She calmed down as she did so, remembering the advice he'd given her earlier in the week. _Don't get overconfident, Rhen._ After they had battled it out for a good ten minutes and Rhen was beginning to get weary, Lorad sheathed his sword. "Enough."

She breathed a sigh of relief. She had stumbled in some of the technical aspects of swordplay, as she'd never properly fought someone before, but her spells were impeccable, and at least a few levels above what she was expected to know. Still, she sweat further as she waited for the results. In a couple of minutes, she found herself grinning as it was announced that she had passed with flying colours.

Rhen gave minimal thanks to the few sword singer novices who congratulated her. They had never spoken to her before the trial and were clearly looking for tips to pass their own. Once people had dispersed from the courtyard, Lorad approached her. "Everyone questioned why I took you as a ward when you first arrived. You have proven why today. Well done."

She beamed at the praise. "It wouldn't have been possible without your help."

All her expenses were covered by the academy as she had no money of her own. And the academy would never have done so if Lorad hadn't vouched for her. "I'm counting on you to succeed further then." He reverted back to his stern self, handing her a pouch. "Go to town. Shop. Celebrate with your friends. You've earned it."

Rhen flushed. It was customary for those that passed their trials to be rewarded an allowance to treat themselves, but she had no friends to celebrate with. Lorad knew that too. She would have gone alone, but students had to go in at least pairs. "You can't very well go into town alone. Do you have a friend to go with?"

"I can just not go." She offered.

"You need a new sword." He frowned, indicating to her beat up training sword. He looked around the courtyard, and Rhen saw with dread who he was looking at. "Lars, over here please."

She contemplated fleeing, but the mossy bastard was already there. "What can I do for you, Master Lorad?" he drawled, not bothering to look at Rhen.

"You are not busy at the moment?"

Lars smirked. "No. Being the _first_ to pass the trials has certainly left me with some free time."

Rhen groaned. He didn't understand what he'd just done. Lorad nodded, a victorious smile playing on his lips. "I'm glad to hear that. You shall accompany Rhen into town seeing as you're her closest acquaintance."

Rhen and Lars looked at each other with disgust. "Master, I'd rather not go." Rhen protested. "Or I'll find someone else."

"And I just realised I'm busy." Lars added hurriedly.

"Busy with what?" Lorad raised a brow. "You have the week off for passing your trials. And Rhen, do you have anyone else in mind?"

At Rhen's embarrassed silence, Lars gave out a nasty laugh. "How about him?" He motioned to a red-haired boy exiting the sword singer dormitories.

"You know what," Rhen said through her teeth, feeling herself turn purple. "Lars, as terrible as he is, will do just fine."

Lars gaped at her, realising the mistake he made. Before he could protest further or come up with excuses, Lorad nodded. "Good. Be back by curfew, you two. Make sure to pick up a heavier blade than you think you will need. You need to build your strength." With this instruction, he left them.

Lars recovered from his shock and sniffed. "Don't expect me to hold your bags, Peta."

Rhen resisted the urge to kick him. "Let's get this over with."


	5. Shopping and a Surprise

Heyooo! Look at me, putting out two chapters within two days. Don't have anything much to say besides that. Let's see if I can do a third now that I have a free weekend for once. Also, Lars is such a piece of shit. I love writing him.

Side note, how was your Valentines' Day? I'm planning a small party this weekend with my girls involving wine, chocolate, and chick flicks. I'm so excited!

...

Lars lurked around in the background while Rhen perused the bakery. She was determined not to let his presence deter her from rewarding herself as she deserved. When she decided on a pastry, one that could never be found in the academy canteen, she payed the baker with a smile.

After licking her fingers clean of lingering honey, she looked at Lars, who was scowling. "You don't have to follow me. Go do whatever you want, and we can meet back in a few hours."

"I don't take orders from a slave." Lars snapped. "Besides, someone needs to make sure the academy's money isn't being wasted."

 _Charming_.

As they walked out of the bakery, he started complaining again. "Seriously, do you have to be such a loser? You couldn't have made any friends?"

Rhen snorted. And who's fault was that. To stop him from opening his stupid mouth again, she pointed to the general store. "There next."

"Hurry up then."

Rhen made sure to take her time browsing the various potions and asking the shopkeeper about their value and ingredients. There was a tailor in the general store too, showing off various clothing items. Rhen picked up a practical belt with lots of pouches. When she thought Lars wasn't looking, she turned her eye to the few pretty ballgowns on display, particularly a flowy silver one with long sheer sleeves.

She didn't bother asking about the price of the gowns. They were pretty, but not good for anything else. She still liked to look at them, though. There was nothing like these dresses in Clearwater. Then again, there was no slavery in Clearwater either, so Veldarah could keep their pretty dresses for all Rhen cared.

Next was the part she was the most excited about. Swords! The blacksmith's shop was even better than the bakery with all the variety of weapons. The smith was an older middle-aged woman who was happy to show Rhen all the weaponry appropriate for apprentice sword singers. Rhen remembered Lorad's advice and opted for a heavier longsword. She winced at the weight, knowing she'd be expected to wield it with one hand. Still, it was her first real blade and she promised the smith she'd take care of it, getting a bag of supplies to do so with.

"Pfft. How barbaric." Lars scoffed at her gleaming grin as they existed the smithy, with the sword on Rhen's back. "It's no wonder the sword singers have such an easy time passing their trials when all they need to do is use brute strength."

"Even you can't ruin this for me, Lars." Rhen all but sang. "And hey! We have to learn just as many spells as you bratty sorcerers."

"Oh please. It's not even comparable. Your spells are so simple that even an illiterate peasant could learn them." He indicated to her with a grin. "Case in point."

"Better an illiterate peasant than a slave, I guess." Rhen shrugged.

"Whatever. Are you done yet? I've wasted enough time on this nonsense." He said.

Rhen thought to the various bags she held. A few more pastries for the week, her sword, a few tunics and that nice belt… she supposed she was finished. But then a shop caught her eye. "I'm just gonna go check that one out." She said, hauling her load with her.

If Lars were a gentleman, he would have offered to carry some of her bags. But he was anything but, as he groaned and followed after her, complaining all the while. "Wow." He said dryly upon entering the cluttered store. "There's so much garbage to choose from."

"Shut up." She waved him off, turning to the displeased shopkeeper who was glaring at Lars. Lars only sneered in response. "Sorry about him. Some people never learned manners." Rhen said.

"It's not a problem, young miss." The shopkeeper focussed his attention to her. "See anything you like?"

Honestly, the shop was a confusing mess. Rhen didn't have anything in particular she wanted. She'd just entered the store by instinct. Still, it would be rude to leave without at least looking around, so she did that, checking the various shelves and counters with the shopkeeper lingering behind her.

"This place reeks." Lars sniffed. "I'll be outside."

About to awkwardly apologize and leave without buying anything, Rhen froze upon seeing a ring locked up in a clear case of jewellery. "Ah, a pretty ring for a pretty girl!" The shopkeeper exclaimed, unlocking the case and pulling out an ornate golden ring from next to the ring Rhen was looking at.

 _It couldn't be…_ "No… I was looking at the other one." Dazed, Rhen pointed to the fine silvery ring with a clear blue gem.

The smile fell off the shopkeeper's lips. He mumbled something about cheap students, before picking up the ring Rhen was pointing to. "Junk. The jewel is clearly a fake." She saw that the tiny price tag below the ring read 5 gold pieces. "Are you sure you don't want anything more elegant?" he insisted.

It might not even have been the same ring. Rhen didn't remember clearly. But it was cheap. And she felt some nostalgic inclinations towards it. "I'll take it."

The shopkeeper sighed. "Here you go." He wrapped the ring in tissue and handed it to her. "Anything else you need?"

"No. That'll be all. Thanks." She left the store to find a scowling Lars. "And I'm done." She beamed at him. "You are officially free." Now, Rhen wouldn't have to talk to him for another year until the next trials when she won the wager.

"You really are stupid. We need to report back to Lorad first. He's the only one who can officially free me from this nightmare."

"You know Lars, you really are a fun person to be around." Rhen said, sarcastically.

They bickered all the way back to the academy, only stopping once they reached Lorad's office. "I trust you got everything you need?" he raised a brow at their scowling faces.

"Yes." Lars answered before Rhen could. "Now am I free to go? I have a very important dinner to attend." Upon Lorad's nod, Lars bolted., causing Rhen to breathe a sigh of relief.

Rhen showed Lorad the sword she had purchased, nervous about whether or not he would like it. Was it too light? Too expensive? Her anxiety was appeased as Lorad voiced his approval over her choice. With that dismissal, Rhen was free to do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day. She dumped all her purchases in her tiny room quickly. She also had a fifth of the allowance Lorad gave her remaining. She was probably going to save it for later. _I really need to find someone to drag out to town when I need to go. A repeat of today can never happen again._

It was only when she stepped outside that she remembered the ring she purchased. The courtyard was empty enough with students studying indoors or out in town. She ran to her favourite tree and plopped down, before proceeding to unwrap the ring.

The ring was warm in Rhen's hands. In the late afternoon sunlight, the blue gem shone. She wished she could remember the ring that had thrown her into this mess, but her memory was failing her. _Even if it's the same ring, what difference will it make?_

She sighed, stuffing it in her pocket. As she rose and moved to go indoors, she heard a thud of feet landing behind her. Rhen whirred around to see a familiar wide-eyed woman in white standing in front of the tree. "I've been looking everywhere for you, chosen one!"

"What?"


End file.
